by Robyn Steele
Chapter 12
Our plan began when we went to Senesi to stay with friends of the DaMonicos. They figured my dad would be in that village and the friends there were willing to help us get him. They were the Domingo family. Once we were settled at the Domingo’s we began recruiting others to help. We soon had our own little army of Teletrians who were willing to help us free my dad.
“I would like to contact my family, too.” Grams said. The people from my village have special abilities too. They can help us.
“Are you sure they will want to?” Grandpa asked. “Some of them didn’t accept me and Demetrio.”
“Things have changed since then. We can just contact the ones that accepted you. They are very family oriented, so if it concerns me it will concern them. They have talents that can help.”
“Let’s contact them then. Should we go in person?” Momma asked. It was decided that grams and momma and I would go to their village. The rest would stay at the Domingos. We didn’t want to gain the wrong attention by taking too many people there. We didn’t know who in that village might have been involved in kidnapping Cruz and me. We could only contact those we trusted.
Grandpa decided he wanted me to go with them. He wanted me to meet grams family and he thought they might be more inclined to help if they met me. On the way to the village, grams filled me in on her heritage. The rest of the story they hadn’t told me yet. The Teletrians live about 500 years. Grams family live about 300 years. Just good genes I guess, was their only explanation for the prolonged life span.
Grams’ family didn’t have abilities like the Teletrians but they could cast spells on a lot of things like the weather, a person, or objects. Some of them did have the ability to read minds. Most of them weren’t real powerful. They were pretty innocent. They mostly used their spells to better life. Increase crops. Bring on rain. Things like that. There were rules they had to adhere to. An ancient code they lived by. There were a few decenters that tried to not abide by the code. They were dealt with harshly. Sometimes death, if they were caught. Grandma’s people were as discreet and private as the Teletrians. They mostly married within their species but if they married outside their group, they would swear that person to secrecy. They were bound by the same code.
I was pretty excited to meet grams’ family. They had tried to protect me from harm so much I never got to meet any of my extended family, on either side. We pulled up to a modest, but beautiful country farmhouse. Grams said her family was really in to living off the land. It was the home of grams’ sister, my great aunt Catarina. Aunt Cat’s house was warm and inviting but nothing fancy. Her furniture was well worn, the carpet was well worn, and the house looked very lived-in. It was very welcoming. It smelled like baked bread and oranges and cloves. Aunt Cat was pleased to meet us and ecstatic about seeing grams again. The two sisters hugged and hugged like they were afraid to let go. They must have been very close when they both lived here.
I immediately felt a connection to aunt Cat. She lived alone. Her children were grown and her husband had been killed in a fishing accident years earlier. She took us to meet her son Caio and his wife Mitra and their two children. She also took us to meet her daughter Concetta and her husband Antonio and their daughter. All of them were eager to help.
I fell in love with this village. Catarina told us that the people were more spread out now but there was still about 5,000 people in this village. It was so quaint and inviting it made me want to stay. There was a big city center with a pavilion where they would hold meetings or enjoy performances from entertainers. The streets were all tree-lined and made of cobblestone. There were no cement sidewalks but plenty of beaten pathways along the road. It looked like a little town straight out of a story book that was settled right on the edge of the sea. I think after I find my dad I will come back for a lengthy visit.
“You know, Mrs. Harrington, there are people from our clan that would try to get your son for his Teletrian blood. They can extract DNA from him or force him to procreate with them to create a superior race. I’ve just heard rumors of people doing things like that.” Antonio said.
“First of all, young man, I am your auntie. You can call me Aunt Sophia. What you said is very interesting. There could be some merit to that. Do you have any particular persons in mind?” Grams asked him.
“I’ve only heard talk around. Nothing substantial. I didn’t even pay much attention to it because it seemed ridiculous. But now, it’s more credible. I just don’t have a clue who it would be.”
“So, Antonio, if someone from your people wanted my dad to extract DNA or use him to create test tube babies, where would be the likely place they would take him?” I asked.
“They are your people too.” Antonio rebuked me. “I really couldn’t speculate on that. There would have to be a lab or some kind of research place. Wait a minute. There is a University near Senesi, isn’t that where you thought he might be? I believe that there are some of our people working there. They work for…I think it’s Professor….Peters or Petro or something like that.”
“That’s the name I got from dad! It’s Pietro, right?” I exclaimed excitedly. I was eager to get started and wanted to go immediately. Grandpa said we needed to plan some more and make sure we’re absolutely ready when we begin our plan of attack. We needed to gather more supporters, whether they went with us or just supported us from here.
We continued to discreetly contact people we thought we could trust. With the help of our newly recruited family members, we were able to find a total of 21 people to help us. Six of them went back to Senesi with us to the Domingo’s home where we could plan our strategy.
Although the Domingos lived in a spacious home, we were still crowded with our large number. There was a small castle on the outskirts of Senesi that was used as a bed and breakfast resort. Actually, that’s what we call it in the U.S. Here they call them villas. Grandpa convinced the owners to rent the entire place to us for what he told them was a family reunion. There was plenty of rooms for everyone to stay, plus we had large meeting rooms to gather in for our planning. There was also a large grounds area to practice my abilities some more.
We stayed at the villa for an entire month in preparation for our plan to get my father. I was anxious to get this over with, but grateful we had a solid plan. Time actually passed quickly as I was busy perfecting my abilities. There was a wide open meadow near the villa that we practiced in some of the time. The rest of the time we practiced on the private beach the resort sat on.
Cruz wanted me to perfect my fire skill. I hadn’t done anything with that but I just knew it was going to come in handy with this mission. Momma called an old friend of hers and my dad’s. A Teletrian named Orion. I loved that his name means warrior. We needed warriors. The best part was Orion had the fire ability. Momma thought he could teach me to perfect my skill.
Orion had me close my eyes and practice creating fire by thinking of something that made me angry. It took a whole week of practicing, but I did it over and over until I could summon fire easily and without needing to get angry. I was so excited when I accomplished that. Momma was so proud of me. All I needed to do is control where I sent it and how much. Orion told me never to use this ability until I could do that. He spent the rest of the time teaching me to control fire with my thoughts.
It was very tiring and tedious work. There were many times I almost gave up or felt like I would never be able to do it. Momma kept reminding me about my goal to keep me focused. She also reminded me that I was trying to learn in one month what most people took years to learn. She told me that abilities came on slowly as a person grows and then they still need time to learn how to use that ability. “Don’t be discouraged just because we are rushing it.” She told me.
Orion’s wife Stella also helped me. She taught me how to put up an invisible wall
to protect me from anything sent to me. So if someone was trying to read my thoughts I could block it. If someone had fire ability I could keep it from reaching me. She was showing me her ability and I tried it myself. To my delight it worked! There were many ways I could use this. She also told me that it might deflect bullets. No one had tried it because who wants to be the guinea pig? If it didn’t work, that would be a little bit of a problem. She still believed it could work, though. I prayed that it could.
We decided that Stella would go with me to get my dad and maybe we could both deflect any bullets the kidnappers might use. Clariee DaMonico had the ability to cause someone confusion momentarily. It only lasted for about 20 minutes, however it could come in handy for the rescue. Consequently, she would accompany me also. Grandpa had super hearing and could see through buildings, so he was coming with me. Mr. Domingo was going to get us into the University labs. Caio, Aunt Cat’s son, could render someone unconscious with a spell within seconds if he was within 20 feet of them. So he was going too. Then, of course, Cruz insisted on coming with me. And I have to admit that I wanted him there, as well. The others would be close by in case we needed them.
The Domingos had a daughter my age named Antonella. She didn’t seem to like me much but I didn’t have time to figure out why or talk to her about it or even give it any thought. I was pretty busy getting ready. Antonella approached me one day while I was alone practicing on the beach. “You don’t deserve him, you know.”
“Excuse me?” Was my puzzled answer.
“Cruz. He may be your amico, you may be his amica, but you don’t have a clue how great he is.” She spat the words out at me. If looks could kill, I would be six feet under.
“I don’t see where this is any business of yours.” I said and then started to walk away. I did not have time to get into this with her.
She grabbed my arm and I twirled around to face her with loaded fists. “He follows you everywhere and lives as if you are his only purpose in life. And what do you do? Not much.” She rebuked.
“Well, to begin with I am pretty busy right now. I don’t have time to……oh I see. You’re in love with him, aren’t you? Don’t you have your own amico?”
She turned her head. I had hit that nail right on the head. Now she was embarrassed. I no longer was angered against her. I softened. “Look, Antonella, is it? I didn’t ask for any of this. I don’t have time to discuss it right now. I’m pretty busy trying to get my dad. You, must I remind you, already have your dad, and probably have had him all your life. I have never met mine. Just leave me alone while I do my thing and I will talk to you when it’s over. Deal?”
She obviously didn’t care what I had to say. She just turned and huffed away. I continued to train. I was a little peeved that she had interrupted my day that way. And who the heck was she to talk to me that way? I tried to put it out of my mind and not let it bother me. However, I was still ticked off that she had spoken to me that way. Then I tripped over a large rock on the beach and landed on the sharp edge protruding up. Now I was angry with myself for not paying attention. I had a big gash in my shin and it hurt like hell! I sat down to examine it. It was bleeding quite a bit and I didn’t have anything with me so I just put my fingers on it and pressed hard to stop the bleeding.
Instantly the blood stopped. I lifted my fingers to look at it. The gash was completely gone! “Holy Moly!” I’m pretty sure that gash was deep and it was bleeding profusely! I was thinking I might need a couple stitches. In a matter of seconds I couldn’t even see where it had been. I ran up to the house and called for my mom, my grams, my grandpa and Cruz. They all ran into the great room to see what had excited me.
“Is healing one of the abilities?” I asked them.
“That comes from my side.” Spoke grams. “There is usually only one healer in a village at a time.”
“Well apparently I’m the one.” I informed them. “I had a deep gash on my shin and when I touched it with my fingers it disappeared.”
“That’s amazing.” Momma said. “You are like your dad and have the best of both worlds. Except your father is not a healer. You may have even more abilities than him.”
I made an inventory of my abilities, so far. I could read minds and send messages telepathically. I could run super-fast and I have super strength. I could start fires with my mind. I could move objects with my mind. And now I can heal. I’m like a freak! I need to keep these things hidden from most of the world but for now I’m using them to get my dad.
I think I’m ready. I know I’m ready.
Chapter 13